Apr 11, 2015

After a joint session Pakistan's lawmakers not to join the Saudi-led coalition targeting Shiite rebels in Yemen, adopting a resolution that calls on the warring parties in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country to resolve the conflict through peaceful dialogue.

After days of moot, Pakistani lawmakers unanimously voted in favor of a resolution, which states that "the parliament desires that Pakistan should maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict so as to be able to play a proactive diplomatic role to end the crisis."

The predominantly Sunni Pakistan, which has a Shiite minority of its own and shares a long border with the Shiite powerhouse Iran, has been concerned about getting involved in Yemen's increasingly sectarian conflict and a Saudi-Iran proxy war in the region.

The conflict in Yemen pits the Saudi-led Sunni Gulf Arab coalition against Shiite rival Iran, which supports the rebels known as the Houthis and has provided humanitarian aid, though both Iran and the rebels deny it has armed them.

Pakistan's parliament resolution came a day after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Pakistan to discuss the conflict in Yemen with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other officials.

After the talks Iran is ready to facilitate peace talks that would lead to a broad-based government in Yemen. He also called for a cease-fire to allow for humanitarian assistance. "We need to work together in order to put an end to the crisis in Yemen," Zarif said.

Sharif attended the joint session of parliament Friday to indicate his approval.

If the conflict in Yemen becomes an all-out sectarian war, this will "have a critical fallout in the region, including in Pakistan," the resolution said.

The parliament also urged Muslim countries and the international community to intensify their efforts to promote peace in Yemen. It called on Pakistan's envoys to "initiate steps" before the U.N. Security Council "to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Yemen."

Even though the lawmakers opted to stay out of the conflict, the parliament also expressed its "unequivocal support" for Saudi Arabia, vowing that in case of any violation of its territorial integrity or any threat to the Muslim holiest places in the kingdom, Pakistan would "stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Saudi Arabia and its people."

The best suited decision from Pakistan’s Parliament paved way for dialogue between two warring states, and this could also prevented Pakistan itself from uprising Shiite Sunni conflict.